Rahat Ali bowls with a side-on action and is capable of maintaining speeds around the 140 kph mark, but he insists his focus is more on swing. A left-arm fast bowler, he took to serious cricket during his first year of college, playing for Multan Cricket Club. He made his debut in 2007-08 for Multan, before shifting to Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited the following season. He was in sparking form for Khan Research Laboratories and Baluchistan in 2011-12, taking a total of 61 first-class wickets. It earned him a call-up to the Pakistan one-day squad for the tour of Sri Lanka in 2012, and a Test debut against South Africa in Johannesburg the next year.ESPNcricinfo staff